GoFundMe is refunding all donations made to the 'Fund the Wall' campaign

The GoFundMe campaign that was raising money to build a wall
along the US-Mexico border did not meet its $1 billion goal,
meaning the platform will begin refunding donors.

On Friday, Brian Kolfage, who created the fundraiser, updated
its GoFundMe page to urge donors to redirect their money to a new
"501(c)(4) non-profit Florida Corporation named 'We Build the
Wall, Inc.'"

The campaign, created in December, raised $20
million.

The GoFundMe campaign that aimed to raise $1 billion for a border
wall is shutting down, and the $20 million raised will be
refunded to donors.

A GoFundMe spokesman, Bobby Whithorne, told INSIDER that the
campaign's founder, Brian Kolfage, initially promised donors that
all donations would be used to pay for a wall along the US-Mexico
border, like the one President Donald Trump has proposed, if it
met its $1 billion goal.

"However, that did not happen," Whithorne said. "This means all
donors will receive a refund."

Kolfage, a US veteran who supports Trump, updated the campaign's
page on Friday announcing the refunds. He said donors could
redirect their donations to a new "501(c)(4) non-profit Florida
Corporation named 'We Build the Wall, Inc.'" if they still wished
for their money to be used, in one way or another, to build a
wall.

In his update, Kolfage said he had reached out to several experts
in "law, politics, national security, construction, and finance"
and created a team that "has spent countless hours over the
holidays reviewing all issues pertaining to the construction of a
southern border wall."

"Unanimously," Kolfage said, "we have all come to the conclusion
that the federal government won't be able to accept our donations
anytime soon."

He said this was why his new nonprofit would accept any donations
previously made to the GoFundMe campaign.

Among the group of people listed on the GoFundMe page as being
involved with the nonprofit are Erik Prince, an American
businessman known for founding the security firm Blackwater (he
is also Education Secretary Betsy DeVos' brother), David Clarke,
the former Wisconsin sheriff known for expressing controversial
views on immigration, and Mary Ann Mendoza, a proponent of
stricter immigration laws whose son died when his car was hit by
an intoxicated driver who
authorities said had been in the country illegally.

The group also includes Kris Kobach, the former Kansas secretary
of state, who in a statement said that "when government fails in
its most important duties - protecting its citizens and
preserving the country's sovereignty - We the People have the
right to do it ourselves."

In the update, Kolfage said the group was "highly confident" that
it could "complete significant segments of the wall in less time,
and for far less money, than the federal government, while
meeting or exceeding all required regulatory, engineering, and
environmental specifications."

In a statement to INSIDER, Kolfage said the group was "already
taking action on identifying the most densely crossed areas of
the border, soliciting affected landowners along the Southern
border, and ascertaining the willingness of border landowners to
provide no or low-cost easements on their property for wall
construction."

He added: "Better equipped than our own federal government, we
have made significant progress in less than a month, having begun
extensive due diligence and commenced feasibility studies."

Whithorne told INSIDER that if a person who donated to the
original GoFundMe campaign did not want a refund and instead
wanted the money to go to the new organization, "they must
proactively elect to redirect their donation to that
organization," adding that "if they do not take that step, they
will automatically receive a full refund."

"All donors will be contacted by GoFundMe via email, and they can
also find additional the donor form directly on the campaign
page," he said.

The GoFundMe campaign went viral during the week of its creation
in December. Reports soon surfaced of Kolfage's previous
endeavors, which
included stints running conspiracy-theory websites and a
related Facebook page that was kicked off the platform in
October.